Customer Reviews

Do I Have to Go? 101 Questions About the Mass, the Eucharist, and Your Spiritual Life

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My teens (ages 14, 16 & 18) love this book as well as the others in the series: Did Jesus Have a Last Name? And 199 Other Questions from Catholic Teenagers and Did Adam and Eve Have Belly Buttons?: And 199 Other Questions from Catholic Teenagers. They recently attended an "ecumenical" mission project with other teens from our military chapel as some of the few Catholics going. They were able to successfully use this book to help them calmly defend their Faith when it was aggressively challenged by a couple of the "Non-denominational" teens on the trip. Highly recommended!

"Do I Have to Go? 101 Questions about the Mass, the Eucharist, and Your Spiritual Life" is primarily written for teenagers and young adults who are questioning the reason for needing to go to Mass each Sunday. Yet, Matthew Pinto and Chris Stefanick have gone far beyond their intended purpose. This book is a succinct study in why our Mass is the way it is and the benefits it holds for our lives. It is worthwhile for anyone who wants to learn more about the Mass. The question and answer format makes it very readable. The questions are ones that many may have asked. Examples include, "How do we know that God exists?" "Why does Mass have to be so boring?" "Do I really have to go to Mass every Sunday?" and "What evidence is there that the early Church believed in the Real Presence?" Pinto and Stefanick are able to take some very complex realities and make them understandable. "Do I Have to Go" is also a great resource for when someone asks a question about our Mass and you aren't exactly sure of the answer. In reading this, I learned several things about why we use the words we do and make the gestures we do at certain points in the liturgical celebration. I highly recommend "Do I Have to Go?" for anyone who has questions about the Catholic Mass.

The cover is misleading. At first glance it appears this book is for young adults or teens. However, it is for anyone who questions the reason for attending Mass. This is great for adults who may have forgotten their early catechesis. An excellent source of information. A great review of key faith issues.

Do I Have to Go? gives the reader a good explanation of the REASON for every aspect of Catholic worship. The book makes good sense of WHY we do what we do, in a way that "goes where the kids' heads are". Our faith is not full of meaningless ritual, on the contrary, every faithful practice and devotion has a beautiful and meaningful reason for helping us to grow closer to the Source of all. I recommend this book for every Catholic.

Recently my siblings (just like me at their age) have been refusing to go to mass thanks to it being "boring, nothing fun to do, confusing and not understandable". Just opening this book up this morning and flipping through it gave me answers to so many questions that I've asked everyone (but my priest for some reason) and got no answer. I now have more answers when my baptist and protestant friends ask me things about my faith/religion that before I'd give the best answer I could and wonder why I had yet to ask my priest that exact same question! And I have more info/knowledge about why catholics do the things we do and can better defend my faith/religion! I now understand the need (and no doubt by the books end will have the want) to go to mass as often as possible let alone just every sunday and that's just from reading the introduction! Seriously money well spent.

I'd recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about the catholic faith whether you're catholic or not, no matter what age you are, and whether you go to church every sunday or(and especially!) if you don't :D.

Cute book

Some parts are alittle intense--

Not like light reading at times

Looks and sounds more kid friendly than it is